A variety of different portable puppet theaters, stages and playhouses have been designed and developed for portable usage. Typically, such theater devices are made to be free-standing or to be placed on a table or other device to be carried. Some portable puppet theaters are so small that they can be easily carried. U.S. Pat. No. 6,506,093 (Avital) discloses a miniature puppet theater and book combination, in which a tiny portable puppet theater is contained within a book that can be easily collapsed and carried. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,261,849 (French), a miniature theater is designed for interchangeable platforms so that performance may be given using either hand puppets or marionettes.
Other portable puppet theaters have been designed to break down into sections or pieces to be carried. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,468,171 (Taylor), a small puppet theater is structured in sections that may be collapsed for compact storage in a carry case. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,085,609 (Haberle), a puppet theater is designed to be dissembled into upper and lower halves which may be folded onto each other. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,857,028 (Conrad), a playhouse for small children is provided in which the unit may be disassembled into adjacent walls to be folded on each other. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,194,047 (Cabell), a portable theater assembly is provided for storing, setting up and rapidly changing scenery elements.
In most cases, the portable puppet theaters are made to be free-standing, so they can be assembled anywhere. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,857,028 (Pail), a puppet theater kit is provided which is easily dissembled to fit in a compact portable carrying case. The case has holes for corner rods to extend upwards to support the top of the theater. Curtains may be hung from the top to simulate a theater. In U.S. Published Patent Application 2006-0150530 (Davey), a small theater system is comprised of multiple modules that can be easily assembled or dissembled to change staging and scenery.
The foregoing examples tend to take up space in a room and are not readily assembled and disassembled. Furthermore, they do not usually provide for usage in a home or other play area where space may be at a premium. They often do not have interior space within where one or more people can set up a puppet theater or playhouse for easy usage.